The Devil on Your Back
by itskindafuntodotheimpossible
Summary: London 2012 had finally arrived and 18 year old US gymnast Rachel Berry couldn't wait to try and win gold but could US water polo player Noah Puckerman put that in jeopardy? AU, one shot that may be extended to two or three if people are interested. Rated M to be safe.


This is a little one-shot to try and get back into writing after a rough few months. The story is completely AU and inspired by Shake it Off by Florence and the Machine as well as the 2012 London Summer Olympics, hence the setting. It morphed into something different to watch I imagined but I'm still pretty happy with it.

It's kinda flirty and angsty and a little dramatic I think.

Rated M for language and suggested adult themes.

I don't own Glee, Shake it Off or the Olympics. Enjoy!

* * *

Representing her country was something Rachel Berry had never imagined would become a possibility. Even as she was getting settled in the Olympic village, she still couldn't believe that at 18 she would be representing the USA as an Olympic gymnast.

Placing her favourite teddy bear on her pillow, she turned to her teammate and roomie Santana Lopez and smiled.

"We did it Tana. We made it. 18 years old and we are going to be competing for the United States of America at the Olympics" she squealed

"Don't forgets those gold medals we'll be winning"

"Santana! Don't say things like that. You'll curse us. We just want to do well for our country and if we're lucky and all our hard work pays off hopefully take home a medal"

Rolling her eyes at her pint sized best friend, the Latina was about to respond when their room door was flung open and their teammates Brittany and Quinn ran in.

"Other US athletes are arriving, come say hi with us" Brittany said excitedly before grabbing Quinn and running back out of the room leaving Santana and Rachel to shrug and follow.

* * *

Noah Puckerman was on a high as he and his best friend Sam Evans walked into the Olympic village. At 21, they were the youngest members of the US Water Polo team that was ranked number one in the world and tipped for gold.

"Dude we are the men. Hot chicks worldwide are gonna be drooling over us as soon when they see us at the first game"

"I'm not looking for a one night stand so you can have the hot chicks all to yourself Puckerman. Now we need to lay down some ground rules about rooming together for this long because in the past I've only had to put up with you for a week at most"

"Someone needs to pull the stick out of his ass. We are Olympic athletes Sammy boy, don't forget that. We need to enjoy it."

"Someone needs to pull his head into line and remember this isn't spring break in Cabo for senior year. This is the Olympic games which occur every four years, are extremely prestigious and are scrutinised worldwide. We have one job to do while we're here - make sure the United States of America's men's water polo team win the gold medal."

"Chill dude, I get it. Just relax a little would you. When you're tense like this it throws me off. On a side note, if you don't plan on getting down and dirty I'm more than happy for you to pass your 15 condoms from the organisers on to me"

Reaching into his welcome pack, Sam grabbed the condoms and chucked them at his friend before suggesting they have a look around and meet some of the other US athletes.

* * *

The US athletes who had arrived were congregating in one of their many lounge rooms when Puck and Sam wandered in. Soon they found one of the non-water polo athletes they were friends with, Mike Chang, who was a member of the diving team chatting to a few girls.

"Hey Mike" said Puck as the two engaged in a complicated handshake that ended in a man hug

"Puck, Sam; these lovely ladies are Rachel, Santana, Brittany and Quinn. They are 4 of the 5 members of the US gymnastics team. Girls this is Puck and Sam, the youngest members of the US water polo team."

As they all shook hands and exchanged greetings, Puck couldn't help but look, no stare, at the short brunette that Mike had introduced as Rachel. As the group stood there chatting, Puck found himself drawn to her.

"Excuse me Puck," she said, "but the others have gone off to greet some new arrivals and you seemed to have lost concentration on the conversation of the group"

"Oh um thanks, Rachel," he mumbled before regaining his confidence, "maybe we should go join them unless you know you'd rather go up to my room" he finished, before winking at her.

Rolling her eyes at him , she began walking off in the direction the others had just gone, knowing he would follow.

"What kind of name is Puck anyway? Did your parents have some fascination with A Midsummer Night's Dream?"

"Wow princess, ever pick up a newspaper, watch the news or even look up anything about your fellow US Olympic athletes? I pegged you for a girl who'd do her research"

"I never asked your real name. I asked why you went by Puck and while I don't know you that well I'm pretty sure you aren't an idiot so you knew what I meant and made a conscious effort to divert attention from my question as to why you use call yourself Puck rather than Noah which is a very nice Jewish name"

"Shit you like to talk don't you?"

"Again with diverting from my question" she replied, moving to stand in front of him and placing her hand on his chest to stop him.

The gesture was symbolic at most, it wasn't like her 5"5 frame was anything compared to him at 6"1 and her weight and strength was nothing compared to his yet at her delicate touch he stopped moving and caught her eyes.

"Only my ma, my nana and my little sister get to call me Noah, ok princess."

"Why? I'd much rather call you Noah than Puck. And I can't imagine any of your girlfriends have ever willingly called you Puck for the duration of your relationships"

"I may have done some reading up on other US athlete but I've actually only known you for all of 15 minutes Berry so I really don't see this as any of your business"

"I just wanted to be friends but I guess if it's that difficult" she said, turning and starting to walk away

"You are so frustrating has anyone ever told you that? I never said I didn't want to be friends with you or any of the other athletes but I just don't want to share my life story with someone I barely know. Get to know me more and I might tell you more. Plus you haven't shared anything with me yet so why should I bare all" he replied before walking away from her in the direction of his room

* * *

Puck wished he could avoid the tiny brunette who was already clouding his thoughts. He was here to play water polo, that's it even if he may have pretended otherwise with mates. He wanted that gold medal but after his heated discussion with Rachel, he couldn't get her out of his head. There was something there, a spark, but Puck knew he had to keep his head focused on the pool. He however realised how difficult that would be at dinner that night as he realised his friends and Rachel's were forming a group.

So after a night of little sleep, at 5am he gave up, got into some training gear and headed down to one of the gyms that were in the Olympic village. He put on his speedos, got in the pool and just started swimming to clear his head.

* * *

Rachel Berry did not get caught up on boys. Ok that wasn't entirely true, her ex-boyfriend Jesse St. James and her had a steady relationship because they were at the same gym training to make the US Olympic gymnastics team. And there may have been an infatuation followed by a short-lived romance with Finn Hudson, the star Quarterback of the high school she attended, but he didn't understand her schedule or her drive to be the world's number 1 gymnast. But something about Noah Puckerman was different.

Rachel had read the biographies of all the US athletes but he had stood out to her even before they'd met. Something about his hazel eyes drew her into his story, even if there hadn't been much of it.

She sat up in bed and sighed, Noah Puckerman was definitely on her mind and she wasn't going to get back to sleep thinking of him so she grabbed her training bag and headed down to the gym to start her morning routine as she always did, with a work out.

* * *

Puck finished what he could only guess was his 30th lap and looked up at the clock. He decided he should probably hop out of the pool and go shower and have some breakfast – after all the opening ceremony was in about 12 hours and he needed to be fresh if he was going to be smiling and waving on international broadcast without looking like an ass.

Rather than swim to the ladder, Puck put his arms on the pool side and pushed up with his incredible muscle strength before heading to his towel to dry off. He didn't even notice the girl on the elliptical in the gym upstairs staring down at him.

Rachel hadn't known she was staring at Puck swim while she was on the elliptical. All she knew was that a very athletic guy had been swimming for a while, she figured he was one of the 1500m swimmers getting in some long distance practise, but when she saw the muscular arms pushing the male out of the water she realised it was none other than Noah Puckerman.

She knew she should've stopped looking at that point but she was curious to see what his abs looked like in person, although it wasn't quite as close a look as she would've liked if she was being honest with herself. Rachel knew it was wrong but the speedos accentuated just how well toned he was all over and then she started staring at the speedos themselves. It wasn't just his muscles that were large and the evidence of that was making her more hot and bothered than the exercise had been getting her.

As she watched him as he dried himself, Rachel decided she should shower and head to breakfast so she headed to the female locker room to do just that. When she hopped in the shower, Rachel started to sing, it was what she wanted to do had gymnastics not worked out for her and it always felt natural for her to sing when she was trying to de-stress. Today she was feeling a little sexy so she chose Do You Wanna Touch Me.

Puck felt slightly better after his swim. Sure, Rachel Berry was hot and friendly and had this thing about her that drew him to her but she'd be nothing more than another notch on his bedpost and anything more than a friendship would just act as a distraction. Getting in the shower, he could hear singing on the other side of the wall and he found himself recognising the voice as none other than Rachel Berry.

He was amazed by her commitment to her sport that she had been up training this early but more so by her voice. Listening closer, he realised what she was singing and groaned. God she was a good singer and she sounded so sexy. He was getting turned on just listening to her and he realised this shower was going to take a little bit more time that he was expecting so he could take care of himself.

* * *

Surprisingly, Puck and Rachel managed to act normally around one another all day. Yes neither knew that the other had a reason to feel awkward around them but none the less everything was smooth sailing.

That night, they all got into their uniforms and were taken to the opening ceremony of the games. Being from the United States they knew that even once the athletes from all the various countries started walking out, they had a long time to wait.

Finally, they were led into the arena and they could hear the US fans chanting U-S-A, U-S-A. They had cameras and phones out, capturing what many of them knew could be a once in the lifetime event. Rachel squealed and squeezed Santana's hand. It was finally starting, their dreams were coming true.

Then it happened and it felt to Rachel like it was happening in slow motion. She had been walking backwards waving and smiling when she got her feet caught up and she fell backwards. With all the hype she could feel her reaction wasn't going to be fast enough but just as she closed her eyes in anticipation of impact with the track, she felt a strong pair of hands and arms catching her. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see Puck holding her. Their eyes' met and even with thousands of people in the stadium and millions of people worldwide looking at them, she felt like it was just the two of them there. She knew it was cheesy but it felt so romantic, so intimate. He was acting as her protector and it made him that much hotter.

Puck pulled Rachel back up and checked she was ok and as quickly as it had happened, it was over. The cameras were still on them, they weren't stupid enough to not know that but Rachel had the urge to fight her better judgement and to kiss him right there and then. She knew she couldn't though, the performer in her told her that. She may want to be something more but this was not the time or the place for a romance to blossom. If either of them underperformed and the media had even the slightest hint of more than a friendship or a teammate bond then they would blame that. They would whip into a frenzy if they saw even a hint of flirtation.

As if sensing something was wrong, Puck moved between Rachel and Santana and snaked his arms around their waists, giving Rachel's side a squeeze all the while not even looking at either girl.

* * *

Rachel didn't know why she did it but once back at the village she looked at the internet. Lo and behold her little fall and more importantly Puck's little catch had made the news and people were speculating if there was something more there.

Opening her twitter, Rachel decided to post a tweet that might clear a few things up.

"Thanks so much to the amazing NPuckerman20 for catching me. My feet were caught up in the moment. He's single girls ;) #gentleman #friends #luckyhewasthere"

Within seconds she saw he had replied

" RachelBerry that's ok :) what are friends for? #lightasafeather #thoughtgymnastsweresupposedt obegraceful #concernedforwhenshesonbeam"

And it soon turned into a conversation between the two on twitter

" NPuckerman20 :O I AM TOO GRACEFUL! And I'll be fine on the beam, someone's just being a bit of a meanie :( #bully #notsofriendly"

" RachelBerry I'm not being a meanie, I'm being a good friend and expressing my concern for you in what is a very dangerous apparatus #rememberwhocaughtyou"

" NPuckerman20 I guess I'll let it slide this time. But next team be more clear that you are showing concern"

" RachelBerry little demanding there but ok"

' NPuckerman20 and RachelBerry OMG STOP TWEETING EACH OTHER AND GO TO SLEEP. QUALIFIERS START 2MORROW"

" SantanaLopezUSA Sorry San – love you 3 Rach xoxox"

" SantanaLopezUSA Oh Satan loosen up"

* * *

The next morning Puck got up and decided to see if the gym was part of Rachel's morning routine, because he figured she was a routine girl, or if it was just a once off. He was quite excited when he heard the music coming from the space that had been created for the artistic and rhythmic gymnasts to practise floor routines on.

As he stood in the doorway she restarted a remixed version of Sexy and I Know It and started her routine. Puck watched in amazement as she flawlessly timed tumbles, leaps and other movements to the song while executing them perfectly. She finished the routine and presented to the 'judges' who Puck noticed were some toys she had brought down with her. He smiled and decided to announce his presence by applauding and cheering. Rachel turned, startled by the intrusion.

"Amazing Berry, you'll win gold for sure with that routine"

"Thank you, but I won't be performing that routine on the floor"

"Why not? You were incredible, you hit every move"

"Firstly it's too modern for some of the judges and secondly my coaches think some of the moves are too risky. If there were team issues and someone needed a big floor to pick up the slack from other areas then they might let me try but at the moment they won't"

"Even if you want to do it?"

"I haven't asked"

"Rach you have to do that routine. This is the Olympics - you can't play safe and expect to go home with the gold"

"You don't understand the politics of gymnastics Puck"

"Explain to me then" he said, sitting on the ground and signalling for her to follow suit.

Sighing she resigned herself to the fact that she couldn't talk to any of her teammates or coaches about this and she didn't have many friends left so a relatively new friend who she was crushing on would have to be her confident on this matter.

"I'll share with you if you tell me why other people can't call you Noah"

"Rachel that's entirely different. You can't blackmail me into sharing a personal story"

"I'll be sharing one too that's why I need you to tell me one first. Please Puck"

Silence filled the dark room and they just sat looking at each other. Seeing the desperation and sadness in her eyes he relented, he knew he'd probably find himself telling her this story eventually – he knew from their first conversation where he almost revealed everything.

"My dad, he used to beat my ma around. Didn't even care when she was pregnant with my little sister Abi. One day in the summer when I was 10 I tried to stop him and he started beating the shit out of me. All I remember is my ma yelling out Noah and telling him to stop and trying to put herself in the way. Abi was 6 years old and saw what was happening and ran and got our neighbour. His wife called the cops while he came and got into it with my dad, eventually pinning dad on the ground till the cops arrived. I went and visited him in prison after he'd been there for a few months, ma didn't want me to but he had sent me letters promising he'd change and it would be different and that he wanted me to visit. I got there and all he was really hoping for was that ma would come with me because he wanted her to get him a good lawyer. It turns out the woman he had on the side was pregnant and they were supposedly in love and he wanted to get out and be a good dad for that child. He tried to call me Noah but it was wrong. I started going by Puck after that. It worked anyway with water polo and football to have a nickname. Eventually most people didn't even know what my real name was. Now Noah is reserved for people who mean something to me"

"Wow, what ever happened with your dad?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen or heard from him since that day in the prison"

"Puck, I'm so sorry. Thank you for sharing that with me"

"It's fine, it wasn't really anything special" he mumbled, avoiding her eyes

"Stop" she said, grabbing his face and turning it to force him to look at her

After more silence he finally spoke up, "I guess that makes it your turn"

"I was almost kicked out of the gymnastics program. There is the talent aspect, the ambition aspect, the training aspect and the politics aspect when it comes to making the national trials for the Olympics, let alone getting on the team," she took a breath before continuing and Puck instinctively put a reassuring hand on her thigh, "My coach couldn't stop finding faults with me, he told me I needed to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks so I became bulimic because I hadn't lost any weight after a week of trying. He told me on the world stage having 2 gay dads wouldn't be accepted and so only one of them could be known as my father which my dads sadly accepted. We totally trusted this guy to get me to the Olympics. Then he told me I wasn't sexy enough, that I needed to be subtly sexy so males would be my fans. Then when I changed that he came on to me and nearly raped me. That was the final straw. I had to move because of him but I believed everything he said because I know there is politics in gymnastics. I really thought it was all just part of some game to get into the Olympic team and really it was in a way. He would've given me more attention if I did what he wanted. He isn't the only aspect of why gym is difficult Noah but you have to understand there are so many pressures because the sport demands a certain thing. A particular type of girl, of move, of routine and they all have to be perfect. I have internal battles all the time and there is nothing I can do to stop them."

A silence fell over the pair once she had finished speaking and Puck pulled her legs to lay them over his thighs.

"Tell me something about yourself" she faintly whispered

"I just said something"

"That was about the devils on out back. I want to know about you"

"What'd ya wanna know?"

"I don't care, I just want to know more about you"

"I've never told a girl I loved her. In fact I've never been in a serious relationship"

"Why?"

"Never the right girl"

"What else?"

"Ummm I'm originally from Ohio but now I'm in California because it was better for the Olympic training and trying for the team"

"I'm from Ohio too but you could've read that off my bio like I read that off yours. I want real stuff"

"Chill princess, I don't see you sharing anything. This is harder than it looks"

"That's what he said"

After sharing some more bits of information with each other, they found themselves once again consumed by the silence but it wasn't tense or awkward, it was comfortable. It was then that Puck leant down and softly kissed her.

"Puck" she sighed

"Call me Noah" he said, pulling her onto his lap, leaving her to adjust her laps so she was straddling him.

This kiss was slow and full of exploration. Hands were roaming, lips only at first before opening for tongues. They pulled apart staring at each other for a moment before crashing their lips back together and kissing full of passion to resolve all the previous sexual tension. Puck thought at that moment he was happy he had Sam's condoms.

* * *

Ok so I kinda want to do a second chapter of them competing – would anyone be interested in reading that?


End file.
